I have always been on this creation path... I have always drawn since I can remember, and my lifelong dream has always been doing comics for a living. When I went to college around 7 years ago, I had everything sorted out, you know? Then, I got the coldest of rebukes from an art teacher and my dream was kind of torn away from me.
I got a harrowing creative block which lasted the entire course (I graduated in Design around 2 years ago), being unable to draw a single thing for myself, aside the assignments I had to do to move along in the graduation. I hadn't been able to draw a single comic book page since 2014... Until last year.
Around mid-2018, I managed to get past that creative block and draw again. I had drawn myself in bellydance attire (I am also a bellydancer and seamstress) with no commitment --- I simply did it. And that very day I decided I was going to find a way to draw comic books again.
And then, the idea of reviving Menmar, a plot I had buried in my drawer around 2014, came right along. It was one of my scripts that had few details sorted out, very few things developed, so it'd be the perfect option for a debut. I have other finished stories I carry closer to my heart, but those need maturity that only finishing Menmar will bring me.
From 2018 to 2020, I've faced unenployment, the deaths of many relatives and a few breakups that almost stopped me. My drawings and Menmar were the only things that kept me going on. I had to stop dancing due to the pandemic as well, because I couldn't afford the dance classes. But, my art works (which I post in my Instagram [ http://www.instagram.com/iridium.fernandanoronha ]) and the development of Menmar kept me going.
On December, I finally published Menmar here on Tapas. I plan to bring it to an editor to bring it to a physical form in the near future, and keep advertising it. I know this work will take me far, far away. Farther than I ever imagined. I feel like a teenager once more: and I'll never, EVER, allow anything or anyone take that feeling and that dream away from me ever again. And I hope my works help you to keep your determination and also know that you're in the right track. Never back down.
https://tapas.io/series/menmar-en
I sincerely hope, from the bottom of my heart, that Menmar is to your liking. Enjoy!